THE AMERICAN GREY SQUIRREL IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 195
at present to number from 150 to 200, in spite of the recent order
for their extermination. At Kingston Hill they are reported
as abundant, and as frequent at St. Anne's Hill, Chertsey, and
as occurring in gardens at Wimbledon and at Putney. The
Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew have become one of the strong-
holds of the species and Sir David Prain has kindly given me
authoritative information about this. Two pairs were intro-
duced from Woburn on 8th May, 1908, and speedily increased
in numbers. One year they did great destruction to the tender
young shoots of oak-trees and a ukase was issued on that occa-
sion, and about 120 killed. The following year there seemed
to be no diminution in their numbers, and they are still increas-
ing and have found their way across the Kew Road and into
the gardens of houses in Kew and that portion of Richmond
next to Kew Gardens. Other Surrey localities from which I
have records are Leatherhead and Caterham Valley, where the
species was first seen some three years ago.10 I have a note of
one seen swimming across the Thames near Eel Pie Island.
Between 1910 and 1912 a pair was once seen in Alice Holt Wood,
Rowledge,11 but apparently did not secure a footing. It is
not known in the Haslemere district12 nor at Chiddingfold13
where the dominant tree is the oak, nor at Oxshott where the
woodland is almost pure Scots Pine. I mention these and other
negative records as they may be of some relative value in the
course of time.
Kent.—In this county the grey squirrel is well-distributed
and abundant in some places, particularly about Chislehurst,
Knole Park, Rivershill, and Sevenoaks. At the last-named
place Capt. C. W. R. Knight tells me they were liberated about
twelve years ago by an enthusiast, and that they are increasing
and spreading rapidly in spite of efforts to keep them down. On
one estate last winter (1921) two hundred were killed and most
of the keepers shoot them in these days. Capt. Knight offers
to show me a single tree with four or five grey squirrels' dreys
amongst its branches. Many albinos occur in this district
and one captured recently was pure white with ruby eyes.14
At Maidstone the species is well established and the Museum
10 fide Mr. Richard Kearton.
11 fide Mr. James Yates.
12 fide Mr. E. W. Swanton.
13 fide V. N. Gauntlett & Co. Ltd.
14 Lieut.-Col. J. M. Rogers, The Field, 23rd December, 1922.